Independence Day box office clash: Ajay Devgn, Sylvester Stallone

Mumbai, June 10: The India release of Hollywood star Sylvester Stallone‘s “The Expendables 3″ has been advanced by a week in time to release on Independence Day Aug 15, the same day when Ajay Devgn-starrer Bollywood entertainer “Singham Returns” is due to hit the screens.

MVP Entertainment and PVR Pictures, the Indian distributors of “The Expendables 3″ decided to advance the release date because they believe a star-studded film like it can definitely put up a fight at the box office with Bollywood actioner “Singham Returns” and they didn’t want to miss out on the Independence Day weekend.

The distributors are also looking at a wider release for the project as the movie will hit theatres in four languages, including Hindi, Tamil and Telugu.

Deepak Sharma of PVR Pictures and Sunil Udhani of MVP Entertainment issued a joint statement Tuesday to confirm the news.

The statement read: “‘The Expendables’ has become one of the biggest franchises across the globe. The second part of the film performed phenomenally well in India with a release as wide as 800 screens. The new instalment of the film – ‘The Expendables 3′ – is bigger than ever, with megastars like Mel Gibson and Antonio Banderas joining in, and the final product is stellar.”

“We were toying with the idea of a release date between Aug 15 and Aug 21, and have concluded to come on Aug 15 along with the international release. We do understand that it is on the same day as ‘Singham Returns’, but we’re certain that two films of equal sizes can survive at the box office.”

“Stallone and Schwarzeneger have a humongous fan following in India and the genre of the film suits the appetite of people here. We will be dubbing the film in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu and are even hoping for a wider release this time around.”